The Mill House Inn has been part of East Hampton’s colorful history for over two centuries – its history is a story of this special dwelling’s unique past:
- Taking in boarders
- Serving meals
- Providing space for meetings
- Serving as a house of worship
Although classic in style, this assemblage of structures has undergone expansions and major renovations in 1890, 1994, 2002, 2005, and 2011.
Physically, little remains from the original Parsons 1790 Colonial or the Lynch 1890 expansion up (to three stories) that resulted in the Gambrel style home currently at 31 North Main Street.
Except the beams in the ground floor ceiling – you can see they are cut at an angle from the original roofline. Obviously, Patrick Lynch was frugal and did not replace the beams …
Our Address has Changed Over the Years
Even the street number changed! While we were in the process of buying the inn in 1999, our lawyers got a call and had to redo all the paperwork changing the address from 33 to 31 North Main Street at the request of the fire department.
The house behind the inn, which we purchased 3 years later, was changed from 33A to 33. And the original barn on the property was sold to an eccentric (and very wealthy) art collector — Adelaide de Menil — who also collected antique barns. She had it moved to her 30-acre oceanfront property on Further Lane where it became a part of her “living museum,” a retreat for artists and writers.
When she sold that property in 2006 (for $90 million — a record residential sale price at that time, though quickly losing its title to a Colorado property several weeks later), the new owner planned to tear down the historic buildings. So, she donated them to East Hampton Town to be incorporated into the new/antique Town Hall complex designed by famed architect Robert A.M. Stern.
- Read the article in the New York Times
- Check out the remarkable photo book Further Lane by Zak Powers for stunning images of the buildings parading down Route 27!
Our Heritage and Our Ghost!
The original building was a Salt Box style home (much like East Hampton’s famous Home Sweet Home, built in 1790 by the Parsons family.
In 1851, the ship Catherine, which had sailed from Liverpool, was wrecked off the Amagansett coast. The ship was lost but all 300 Irish immigrants on board survived. Col. William D. Parsons approached one of them on the beach and offered him a job on his farm.
Patrick Lynch had been heading west for the gold rush but changed his plans upon hearing Parsons’ offer. It was a smart decision; Lynch prospered, bought this house in 1860, and became a pillar of the community, especially among Catholics.
As there was no Catholic church in East Hampton in the 1870s and 1880s, services were held at the Lynch home every other week. Farmers and former first ladies attended the services — Julia Gardiner Tyler was a regular.
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, after the railroad arrived, the Lynch family started accepting paying boarders. When they sold the home in 1973, the succession of new owners continued to operate the Mill House as an inn, making it one of the Hamptons’ oldest hospitality properties.
Some say that Patrick Lynch has remained at the inn all these years … shortly after we bought the inn (it was on a Friday the 13th in October with a full harvest moon):
- All the electronics in the inn suddenly went haywire.
- The printer started spewing out gibberish.
- The telephone system went berserk, with the main lines ringing in the guest rooms, and the voicemail was all confused.
It took us most of the weekend (with a full house of course) to get it back under control!
Our telephone system specialist insisted it could not have been caused by a power surge. Obviously, our resident ghost — (every old inn must have at least one) had discovered the joys of modern technology!
But seriously, it is a joy to share such a comfortable home, so rich in history and so much a part of this beautifully preserved historic community. Visit us and you just might run into Patrick yourself!
– Sylvia
